A Dog for a Friend

Christine Linge MacDonald is a Toronto-based freelance writer.

On a prairie farm in the early 20th century, a lonely girl longs for a
pet dog, but her busy parents don’t sympathize. The birth of a runt
pig gives Jessie the chance to demonstrate her ability to care for an
animal. As the family supports Jessie’s life-saving efforts, they gain
understanding of each other.

Jessie receives the “dog for a friend” on the last page of a book
that is actually about a girl and her pig. While this could prove a
disappointment to a youngster anticipating the dog’s arrival, an adult
could explain the title’s double meaning: Jessie herself becomes a
friend to the runt pig. The puppy’s arrival simply enhances the
girl’s growing sense of self and awareness of her parents’
sensitivity and hard work.

This simple tale doesn’t moralize or preach, although it examines
lifestyle, endurance, patience, and basic needs. Reynolds’s language
is flowing, not flowery. The well-crafted plot evolves steadily, with
some humor and surprise. McCallum, an award winner with Canada’s
National Film Board, creates the maximum visual impact possible while
maintaining the simplicity of the story and locale. The full-page
illustrations, with their warm, prairie hues, convey a strong sense of
time and place and movingly portray the heroine’s depth of
feeling—for instance, by the delicate shape of her smiling lips or the
twinkle in her blue eyes. This book’s uncomplicated language will fall
easily on the ears of the primary-age child and prove accessible to
junior-grade readers. Recommended.